7 Ways to Use Pixate to Simplify Design

Written by
Ann-Louise Strandberg

With the Pixate, you can make complicated mobile prototypes without writing even one line of code, removing the complexity of explaining and documenting complex interaction concepts. Founded in 2012, Pixate is a mobile app prototyping tool that focuses specifically on making complex interactions simple. The company has made marked improvements to its platform focusing on native prototypes created on the desktop, specifically for mobile. We’re going to look at some of the features and functions of the platform that might be useful for someone new to Pixate:

For the views, icons, like buttons and other visual elements (assets), you can drag them into Pixate where each asset will then become a layer. These assets can then be added to the assets panel, and they can be shared between two or more prototypes so that the elements remain consistent across all prototypes. Tip: keep your layers organized. With no ability to highlight the assets that have been added latest, if you have hundreds of images, for example, finding a particular one could be quite a task.

The assigning action is a walk in the park. All that you need to do is to drag and drop actions to the layers. Since the Actions panel is divided into two categories – the interactions and the animations, you can assign an action to an asset, for example, assign the double tap action to the related button asset and then assign an animation effect for what happens after the double tap action, and so on.

Still on the actions panel, JavaScript animation is now available in Pixate. Do the action panels scale individually? No, but that doesn’t make them any less relevant. Because the panel is connected to interactions, you can only view 5 actions at the same time, and this makes it fast to find and choose the action that you require.

When you make new actions, they will be placed at the top of the page, but as soon as you refresh, all actions will be arranged alphabetically meaning that you can assign characters that can make your actions be arranged in order of priority. This is an advantage, especially since the Pixate App doesn’t allow users to group actions into groups. Add a character and find the action that you need faster.

You may not be able to group actions, but you can group layers. How can you do that? First, you need to designate the parent layer, also called the container since it will hold all the other layers that you will want in the group. Then, you just need to drag and drop other layers into the parent layer. Note that the consecutive layers will inherit the characteristics of the parent layer. Ungrouping layers are as easy as dragging them and dropping them between two layers.

How do you share the prototype to test the interactions? Go to the prototype that you would like to share and then tap the share icon. If you are editing the prototype, just go to the share icon that is on the upper right and then create the share link, which can be emailed to the recipient. If the recipient doesn’t have the Pixate app, they will be prompted to get it from their app store and then they can review your prototype.

Create layers list, add, delete and highlight layers quickly. You can even reorder and duplicate layers without breaking a sweat. Remember, layers are single elements that you will see when you preview the prototype.

This is just the tip of the iceberg with some of the great new features in Pixate. We’re looking forward to testing and refining new features, and we continue to build on the platform. There are some other prototyping tools on the market that are part of our arsenal, but at the moment, nothing beats the ease and simplicity of creating complex and dynamic interactions as Pixate.

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Nice!

You’ve made a wise decision. Emails are sent out about once a month, so keep your eyes peeled. Look for a monthly roll up from us on what we’re up to and the latest in technology, design & industry trends.